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The Green on 19 townhouses, a Santa Monica project by Jesse Bornstein Architecture, uses solar panels as sunshades for rooftop patios. The panels are able to capture not only the sunÂs ray from above, but also any reflected rays that bounce off the rooftop to the underside of the panels. (Jesse Bornstein Architecture) |
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Like most Angelenos in this fragile and declining housing market, I won't be buying a different home any time soon. I want to make the most of the property I've got. I want to turn it into the most efficient, self-sustaining and worry-free space I possibly can.
To do that, part of my plan was to go solar. My reasons for wanting a photovoltaic system were pretty predictable. It's just common sense to use an energy source that's so abundant -- a source that doesn't need to be dug out of the ground in a land far, far away, then trucked and burned to produce power. Even though the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power leads the country in its integration of solar energy, less than 1% of the city's electricity is generated from the sun; 44% of L.A.'s power still comes from non-renewable, greenhouse-gas-emitting coal.
FOR THE RECORD:
This story originally said said that the writer's solar panel system would cost $14,966; the figure should have been $11,876, applying recently increased federal incentives. Also, the system will pay for itself in 43.1 years, not 55.4 years, as originally reported. —
I wanted to make a difference now.
I also wanted to lock down my energy expenses. With prices increasing for seemingly everything and an insecure job market, I didn't want to be subject to rising electricity costs if I could avoid it. The DWP, which is implementing a new fee structure next summer, projects electricity prices to rise about 9% in 2009.
Making my own electricity hit all the sweet spots. Reducing pollution while promoting self- reliance? What's not to love? The only sticking point for me was cost. Like many middle-class parents, I have more good intentions than I have cash. I'd looked into solar years ago and dismissed the idea as too expensive.
But the incentives today have never been more alluring. Through a combination of federal, state and city programs, many California residents are eligible to recoup as much as 75% of their solar installation costs, which average about $35,000 to $40,000.
The biggest push comes from the $700-billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, a.k.a. the Wall Street bailout; it includes a major incentive for installing solar power -- specifically, an extension of a homeowners tax credit that had been set to expire Dec. 31. The tax credit for homeowners who install solar power now runs through 2016. Even better, effective Jan. 1, the old $2,000 cap will be replaced with the dollar amount equal to 30% of the cost of the system.
In California, that federal credit is enhanced with substantial rebates through the Million Solar Roofs law, or SB1, which kicked in Jan. 1, 2007, and required municipal utilities to create their own solar rebate programs.
In Los Angeles, the DWP currently pays about 35% of the cost of a residential solar-power installation in the form of a rebate check; a typical system producing 6,800 kilowatt hours of electricity per year would return $17,000 to the customer. A system of the same size installed under the Pasadena Water & Power Solar Initiative would return a rebate of $14,000. Some of the state's investor-owned utilities are covered through the California Public Utility Commission's California Solar Initiative; a Southern California Edison customer using the same size system would receive a rebate for $8,800.
Depending on the utility, those alluring rebates might decline with each successive year because the more systems that go in, the less need for incentives. So homeowners who are seriously interested in installing solar may want to make their reservation with their local utilities before the end of 2008 to get the most bang for their bucks.
Weighing the costs
How do you know whether solar's right for you? A bunch of online solar calculators let customers figure it out for themselves. My favorite was Clean Power Estimator on the CPUC website. After I typed in my ZIP Code (90042), the site instantly spat out the size (5,034 kilowatt hours per year) and net cost of the system it thought I would need ($11,876, applying all available incentives).
The calculator allowed me to correct some of the assumptions it had made about me so it could provide more accurate information. Typing in the specifics about how much I actually spend for electricity per month (less than $20), the size of the system I actually needed and how I intended to pay for my system (half cash, half loan), I learned it would take me 43.1 years for my investment to pay off.
That isn't a typo. I'm an extremely low user of energy. While the average Los Angeles household uses about 17 kilowatt hours of electricity per day, I use about four. I'm just one of those maniacs who's swapped out all my incandescent light bulbs for compact fluorescents and bought the Energy Star appliances. I air-dry my laundry and turn off lights and unplug my TV, cellphone charger and other electronics even after I've switched the power settings to off.
For someone such as myself, the economics of installing a solar power system don't make much sense. Generally speaking, the more electricity you use, the more money solar will save you and the faster the system will pay itself off. Let's just say you're a regular person or even an irregular person who uses a lot more electricity than the norm. What next?
You call a solar installer -- or, preferably, three -- and get some estimates. Again, I found the CPUC website ( www.gosolarcalifornia.com) to be an excellent resource. It provides a database of registered installers who can be searched by name, area code, city or ZIP Code.
Even though the math didn't work for me, I still had two installers come over and assess my site. Big dreams die hard, you know, and I'd been dreaming about a solar power conversion for years.
To do that, part of my plan was to go solar. My reasons for wanting a photovoltaic system were pretty predictable. It's just common sense to use an energy source that's so abundant -- a source that doesn't need to be dug out of the ground in a land far, far away, then trucked and burned to produce power. Even though the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power leads the country in its integration of solar energy, less than 1% of the city's electricity is generated from the sun; 44% of L.A.'s power still comes from non-renewable, greenhouse-gas-emitting coal.
FOR THE RECORD:
This story originally said said that the writer's solar panel system would cost $14,966; the figure should have been $11,876, applying recently increased federal incentives. Also, the system will pay for itself in 43.1 years, not 55.4 years, as originally reported. —
I wanted to make a difference now.
I also wanted to lock down my energy expenses. With prices increasing for seemingly everything and an insecure job market, I didn't want to be subject to rising electricity costs if I could avoid it. The DWP, which is implementing a new fee structure next summer, projects electricity prices to rise about 9% in 2009.
Making my own electricity hit all the sweet spots. Reducing pollution while promoting self- reliance? What's not to love? The only sticking point for me was cost. Like many middle-class parents, I have more good intentions than I have cash. I'd looked into solar years ago and dismissed the idea as too expensive.
But the incentives today have never been more alluring. Through a combination of federal, state and city programs, many California residents are eligible to recoup as much as 75% of their solar installation costs, which average about $35,000 to $40,000.
The biggest push comes from the $700-billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act, a.k.a. the Wall Street bailout; it includes a major incentive for installing solar power -- specifically, an extension of a homeowners tax credit that had been set to expire Dec. 31. The tax credit for homeowners who install solar power now runs through 2016. Even better, effective Jan. 1, the old $2,000 cap will be replaced with the dollar amount equal to 30% of the cost of the system.
In California, that federal credit is enhanced with substantial rebates through the Million Solar Roofs law, or SB1, which kicked in Jan. 1, 2007, and required municipal utilities to create their own solar rebate programs.
In Los Angeles, the DWP currently pays about 35% of the cost of a residential solar-power installation in the form of a rebate check; a typical system producing 6,800 kilowatt hours of electricity per year would return $17,000 to the customer. A system of the same size installed under the Pasadena Water & Power Solar Initiative would return a rebate of $14,000. Some of the state's investor-owned utilities are covered through the California Public Utility Commission's California Solar Initiative; a Southern California Edison customer using the same size system would receive a rebate for $8,800.
Depending on the utility, those alluring rebates might decline with each successive year because the more systems that go in, the less need for incentives. So homeowners who are seriously interested in installing solar may want to make their reservation with their local utilities before the end of 2008 to get the most bang for their bucks.
Weighing the costs
How do you know whether solar's right for you? A bunch of online solar calculators let customers figure it out for themselves. My favorite was Clean Power Estimator on the CPUC website. After I typed in my ZIP Code (90042), the site instantly spat out the size (5,034 kilowatt hours per year) and net cost of the system it thought I would need ($11,876, applying all available incentives).
The calculator allowed me to correct some of the assumptions it had made about me so it could provide more accurate information. Typing in the specifics about how much I actually spend for electricity per month (less than $20), the size of the system I actually needed and how I intended to pay for my system (half cash, half loan), I learned it would take me 43.1 years for my investment to pay off.
That isn't a typo. I'm an extremely low user of energy. While the average Los Angeles household uses about 17 kilowatt hours of electricity per day, I use about four. I'm just one of those maniacs who's swapped out all my incandescent light bulbs for compact fluorescents and bought the Energy Star appliances. I air-dry my laundry and turn off lights and unplug my TV, cellphone charger and other electronics even after I've switched the power settings to off.
For someone such as myself, the economics of installing a solar power system don't make much sense. Generally speaking, the more electricity you use, the more money solar will save you and the faster the system will pay itself off. Let's just say you're a regular person or even an irregular person who uses a lot more electricity than the norm. What next?
You call a solar installer -- or, preferably, three -- and get some estimates. Again, I found the CPUC website ( www.gosolarcalifornia.com) to be an excellent resource. It provides a database of registered installers who can be searched by name, area code, city or ZIP Code.
Even though the math didn't work for me, I still had two installers come over and assess my site. Big dreams die hard, you know, and I'd been dreaming about a solar power conversion for years.
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